ROGER SUEN

COMPOSER

A zest for life and diversity! Climbing mountains, surfing waves, and a rich Chinese American heritage is where composer, Roger Suen, draws inspiration for every score; injecting each note with as much passion and character as his own adventurous world view. Never one to limit himself to one style of scoring, he is equally adept at scoring stories we already love and stories we have yet to hear. Stories like the 60’s drenched grooves for Nick Cage’s action flick, The Retirement Plan, or the pop tinged rom-com score of Paramount +’s , Love in Taipei, based on a bestselling YA novel (and an all Asian-American cast to boot!), to the gut wrenching, yet sophisticated, score for Alicia Vikander and Justin Chon’s battle with family splitting immigration policies in Blue Bayou, and the epic, ancient Chinese, score to the first ever Assassin’s Creed video game installment set in an Asian world.

As an Asian American, Roger has formed his career around diverse storytelling. He is a longtime collaborator of director, Justin Chon, who champions little known stories of the Asian American experience such as Jamojaya, with it’s entirely chamber choir score, loosely based on, and, starring Malaysian rapper, Rich Brian, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the aforementioned Blue Bayou which was premiered at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival and acquired by Focus Features, the string quartet accompaniment to Kasie as a Karaoke Escort in Ms. Purple (Sundance 2019), and the critically acclaimed and award winning, 2016 Sundance Film, Gook,which featured a strange yet heartbreaking score in this intersection of race, family, and poverty set amidst the ’92 LA riots. Additionally, Roger, is passionate about indigenous story telling, have recently scored the Lilly Gladstone narrated and produced documentary, Bring Them Home, about the restitution and return of wild buffalo to the Blackfeet Tribe as well as the upcoming native Hawaiian film, Moloka’i Bound from Ava DuVernay’s production company, Array Filmworks.

Having opted out of the large film scoring studios, he has developed his own unique style while still contributing heart-pounding additional music for blockbuster studio films, TV shows, and video games. Roger’s diverse music portfolio further includes collaborations with other amazing composers, scoring additional music for Guillermo Del Toro’s four-time Oscar winning film The Shape of Water, Netflix’s five-time Emmy nominated series Daredevil, and Marvel’s Emmy-nominated series The Defenders.  Other highlights include the upcoming video game adaption of Borderlands, the Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson led Red Notice, DC’s League of Super Pets, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, The Maze Runner franchise, Sony Picture’s The Star, The YA sci-fi thriller, Darkest Minds, Sy-Fy’s Krypton series, and the highly acclaimed Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales video games.

Despite all the technological developments in music, Roger still believes the beating heart of film music is still, whenever possible, collaboration with live musicians. This has ranged from bands like Pearl Jam, to The Calder String Quartet, and to the many, world class, local musicians, supporting the rich musical community in Los Angeles, where he calls home. “This is what brings to life the human condition at the core of all my film scores, big or small” says Suen. In addition, Roger, believes in sharing his experience with the community by mentoring young composers, and helping foster their own careers and has even been a conductor with the Brentwood Community Orchestra, a special organization that is a unique space for elderly and young musicians alike.

A Southern California native, Roger studied music at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at UCLA and CSUN. With his atypical career, unique perspectives, and deep love for his community, Roger is one of the most sought after and diverse new voices today.